Save vs. Store — What's the Difference?
By Tayyaba Rehman — Updated on October 26, 2023
Save refers to keeping something from harm or loss, or conserving for future use; Store means to place or keep items in a specific place for use at a later time.
Difference Between Save and Store
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
Save commonly implies protection, as in preventing something from being wasted or lost. On the other hand, Store conveys the idea of accumulating items in a specific place or manner for future use or retrieval.
When you Save money, you are setting it aside, often implying conservation or protection from unnecessary expenditure. In contrast, when you Store money, you're specifically putting it in a designated place, like a bank.
In digital terms, to Save a document means to ensure the current version's data is kept and won't be lost, while to Store a document typically means to place it in a particular directory or storage medium for retrieval.
Save can also mean to rescue or prevent harm, as in saving someone from danger. Store, in its different contexts, doesn't have this rescue connotation but sticks to the idea of keeping or depositing items.
While Save often has an immediate or urgent connotation to it, such as saving electricity by turning off lights, Store leans more toward a long-term action, like storing clothes for the next season.
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Comparison Chart
Primary Connotation
Protection/Conservation
Accumulation/Deposition
Example Usage
Save money, save energy
Store food, store data
Digital Context
Keep current version's data
Place in a directory/storage medium
Temporal Implication
Often immediate or urgent
Typically long-term
Action Outcome
Preventing waste, loss, or harm
Keeping items for future use
Compare with Definitions
Save
Except; other than.
Everyone arrived on time, save for Mike.
Store
A place where goods are sold.
I bought this dress from the store downtown.
Save
To rescue from harm, danger, or loss
The lifeguard saved the struggling swimmer.
Store
A supply or stock for future use.
The squirrel has a store of nuts for the winter.
Save
To prevent from dying
The doctors saved the patient.
Store
To place in a digital memory or storage device.
Store the files in the designated folder.
Save
To set free from the consequences of sin; redeem
Prayed to save his soul.
Store
To retain or hold in one's mind.
He stores a lot of trivia in his brain.
Save
To keep in a safe or healthy condition
God save King Richard!.
Store
A place where merchandise is offered for sale; a shop.
Save
To hold back for future use
Saved his best song for the encore.
Store
A stock or supply reserved for future use
A squirrel's store of acorns.
Save
To avoid spending (money) so as to keep or accumulate it.
Store
Stores Supplies, especially of food, clothing, or arms.
Save
To avoid spending (money or time) in an amount less than what circumstances normally require
Saved $25 at the sale.
Saved 15 minutes by taking a shortcut.
Store
A place where commodities are kept; a warehouse or storehouse.
Save
To prevent the waste or loss of; conserve
Bought an efficient device that saves electricity.
Store
A great quantity or number; an abundance.
Save
To treat with care by avoiding fatigue, wear, or damage; spare
Wore sunglasses to save his eyesight.
Store
To reserve or put away for future use.
Save
To make unnecessary; obviate
By carrying two bags you can save an extra trip.
Store
To fill, supply, or stock.
Save
To spare (someone) from having to do something.
Store
To deposit or receive in a storehouse or warehouse for safekeeping.
Save
(Sports) To prevent (a goal) from being scored by blocking a shot. Used of a goalie.
Store
(Computers) To copy (data) into memory or onto a storage device, such as a hard disk.
Save
To prevent an opponent from scoring (a point).
Store
A place where items may be accumulated or routinely kept.
This building used to be a store for old tires.
Save
To preserve a victory in (a game).
Store
A supply held in storage.
Save
(Baseball) To preserve (another pitcher's win) by protecting one's team's lead during a stint of relief pitching.
Store
(mainly North American) A place where items may be purchased; a shop.
I need to get some milk from the grocery store.
Save
(Computers) To copy (a file) from a computer's main memory to a disk or other storage medium.
Store
Memory.
The main store of 1000 36-bit words seemed large at the time.
Save
To avoid waste or expense; economize.
Store
A great quantity or number; abundance.
Save
To accumulate money
Saving for a vacation.
Store
A head of store cattle (feeder cattle to be sold to others for finishing); a store cattle beast.
Save
To preserve a person or thing from harm or loss.
Store
(transitive) To keep (something) while not in use, generally in a place meant for that purpose.
I'll store these books in the attic.
Save
(Sports) An act that prevents a ball or puck from entering a goal.
Store
Contain.
The cabinets store all the food the mice would like.
Save
(Baseball) A preservation by a relief pitcher of another pitcher's win.
Store
Have the capacity and capability to contain.
They sell boxes that store 24 mason jars.
Save
With the exception of; except
"No man enjoys self-reproach save a masochist" (Philip Wylie).
Store
To write (something) into memory or registers.
This operation stores the result on the stack.
Save
Were it not; except
The house would be finished by now, save that we had difficulty contracting a roofer.
Store
That which is accumulated, or massed together; a source from which supplies may be drawn; hence, an abundance; a great quantity, or a great number.
The ships are fraught with store of victuals.
With store of ladies, whose bright eyesRain influence, and give the prize.
Save
Unless.
Store
A place of deposit for goods, esp. for large quantities; a storehouse; a warehouse; a magazine.
Save
(transitive) To prevent harm or difficulty.
Store
Any place where goods are sold, whether by wholesale or retail; a shop.
Save
To help (somebody) to survive, or rescue (somebody or something) from harm.
She was saved from drowning by a passer-by.
We were able to save a few of our possessions from the house fire.
Store
Articles, especially of food, accumulated for some specific object; supplies, as of provisions, arms, ammunition, and the like; as, the stores of an army, of a ship, of a family.
His swine, his horse, his stoor, and his poultry.
In his needy shop a tortoise hung,An alligator stuffed, and other skinsOf ill-shaped fishes; and about his shelvesA beggarly account of empty boxes.
Sulphurous and nitrous foam, . . . Concocted and adjusted, they reducedTo blackest grain, and into store conveyed.
Save
To keep (something) safe; to safeguard.
Store
Accumulated; hoarded.
Save
To spare (somebody) from effort, or from something undesirable.
Store
To collect as a reserved supply; to accumulate; to lay away.
Dora stored what little she could save.
Save
(Christianity) To redeem or protect someone from eternal damnation.
Jesus Christ came to save sinners.
Store
To furnish; to supply; to replenish; esp., to stock or furnish against a future time.
Her mind with thousand virtues stored.
Wise Plato said the world with men was stored.
Having stored a pond of four acres with carps, tench, and other fish.
Save
(sports) To catch or deflect (a shot at goal).
Store
To deposit in a store, warehouse, or other building, for preservation; to warehouse; as, to store goods.
Save
(baseball) To preserve, as a relief pitcher, (a win of another pitcher's on one's team) by defending the lead held when the other pitcher left the game.
Store
A mercantile establishment for the retail sale of goods or services;
He bought it at a shop on Cape Cod
Save
To put aside, to avoid.
Store
A supply of something available for future use;
He brought back a large store of Cuban cigars
Save
(transitive) To store for future use.
Let's save the packaging in case we need to send the product back.
Store
An electronic memory device;
A memory and the CPU form the central part of a computer to which peripherals are attached
Save
(transitive) To conserve or prevent the wasting of.
Save electricity by turning off the lights when you leave the room.
Store
A depository for goods;
Storehouses were built close to the docks
Save
(transitive) To obviate or make unnecessary.
Store
Keep or lay aside for future use;
Store grain for the winter
The bear stores fat for the period of hibernation when he doesn't eat
Save
To write a file to disk or other storage medium.
Where did I save that document? I can't find it on the desktop.
Store
Find a place for and put away for storage;
Where should we stow the vegetables?
I couldn't store all the books in the attic so I sold some
Save
(intransitive) To economize or avoid waste.
Store
To keep or accumulate for future use.
She stores her summer clothes in the attic during winter.
Save
To accumulate money or valuables.
Save
To refrain from romantic or (especially in later use) sexual relationships until one is married or is with a suitable partner.
She told me she's saving herself for marriage.
Save
An instance of preventing (further) harm or difficulty.
Save
In various sports, a block that prevents an opponent from scoring.
The goaltender made a great save.
Save
(baseball) A successful attempt by a relief pitcher to preserve the win of another pitcher on one's team.
Jones retired seven to earn the save.
Save
A point in a professional wrestling match when one or more wrestlers run to the ring to aid a fellow wrestler who is being beaten.
The giant wrestler continued to beat down his smaller opponent, until several wrestlers ran in for the save.
Save
(informal) An action that brings one back out of an awkward situation.
Nice save.
Save
(computing) The act, process, or result of saving data to a storage medium.
If you're hit by a power cut, you'll lose all of your changes since your last save.
The game console can store up to eight saves on a single cartridge.
Save
(RPG) A saving throw.
Save
Except; with the exception of.
Save
Unless; except
Save
The herb sage, or salvia.
Save
To make safe; to procure the safety of; to preserve from injury, destruction, or evil of any kind; to rescue from impending danger; as, to save a house from the flames.
God save all this fair company.
He cried, saying, Lord, save me.
Thou hast . . . quitted all to saveA world from utter loss.
Save
Specifically, to deliver from sin and its penalty; to rescue from a state of condemnation and spiritual death, and bring into a state of spiritual life.
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
Save
To keep from being spent or lost; to secure from waste or expenditure; to lay up; to reserve.
Now save a nation, and now save a groat.
Save
To rescue from something undesirable or hurtful; to prevent from doing something; to spare.
I'll save youThat labor, sir. All's now done.
Save
To hinder from doing, suffering, or happening; to obviate the necessity of; to prevent; to spare.
Will you not speak to save a lady's blush?
Save
To hold possession or use of; to escape loss of.
Just saving the tide, and putting in a stock of merit.
Save
To avoid unnecessary expense or expenditure; to prevent waste; to be economical.
Brass ordnance saveth in the quantity of the material.
Save
Except; excepting; not including; leaving out; deducting; reserving; saving.
Five times received I forty stripes save one.
Save
Except; unless.
Save
(sports) the act of preventing the opposition from scoring;
The goalie made a brilliant save
The relief pitcher got credit for a save
Save
Save from ruin, destruction, or harm
Save
To keep up and reserve for personal or special use;
She saved the old family photographs in a drawer
Save
Bring into safety;
We pulled through most of the victims of the bomb attack
Save
Spend less; buy at a reduced price
Save
Feather one's nest; have a nest egg;
He saves half his salary
Save
Make unnecessary an expenditure or effort;
This will save money
I'll save you the trouble
This will save you a lot of time
Save
Save from sins
Save
Refrain from harming
Save
Spend sparingly, avoid the waste of;
This move will save money
The less fortunate will have to economize now
Save
Retain rights to;
Keep my job for me while I give birth
Keep my seat, please
Keep open the possibility of a merger
Save
To rescue from danger or harm.
The lifeguard managed to save the drowning child.
Save
To set aside for future use.
It's wise to save money for emergencies.
Save
To conserve or prevent the waste of.
Save water by fixing leaky faucets.
Save
To keep a digital file by storing its current state.
Don't forget to save your work before shutting down the computer.
Common Curiosities
What does a "grocery store" refer to?
A "grocery store" refers to a place where food and other household items are sold.
Which word indicates protecting something from being wasted: Save or Store?
Save.
Can "Save" mean to rescue someone?
Yes, save can mean to rescue someone from harm or danger.
When I keep a file on my computer for future use, am I saving or storing it?
Both can apply, but typically you save changes to a file and store the file in a location.
Which term implies accumulating items in a location: Save or Store?
Store.
If I am preventing food from spoiling, am I saving or storing it?
You are saving it from spoilage, but how you do so might involve storing it properly.
Is "save for" a phrase that means excluding something?
Yes, "save for" means except for something.
If I want to keep my digital work from being lost, should I save or store it?
You should save it, and you might also store it in a specific location or backup device.
Can "store" also mean a supply or stock of something?
Yes, "store" can mean a supply or stock set aside for future use.
Does "store" only refer to physical items?
No, "store" can refer to both physical items and intangible ones, like digital data.
Which term is more urgent, save or store?
Typically, save has a more immediate or urgent connotation.
When talking about food, what does it mean to store it?
To store food means to keep it in a specific place, often under particular conditions, for future use.
When I put money in a bank, am I saving or storing it?
You are storing it in the bank, but in a broader sense, you are also saving money for future use.
Can I say "store memories" when referring to remembering past experiences?
Yes, you can say "store memories" to imply retaining or holding memories in one's mind.
What's the primary action in saving electricity?
The primary action in saving electricity is conservation.
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Written by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
